Saturday, 14 January 2012

On the boardwalk

For what seems like eternity improvement works have been taking place on the moorings at Norbury Wharf. They were certainly needed.

Here are the moorings in their "unimproved" state: no proper surface, wooden edge boards that were crumbling away and nothing to tie up to except some bits of old iron rods that someone from the boatyard would periodically knock back down with a sledgehammer. As I used to say to the proprietor - these are the only moorings I ever pay for and the worst place I've ever tied up!Eventually last Spring work began to make things better - although at first it only made them worse:

First job was to clear a track wide enough for the digger; when it rained this turned the path into a sea of mud.By early summer work had started on laying new boarding and Starcross got a sneak preview when I returned to Norbury after a week away to find another boat in my space and Simon suggested I might like to try them out.

Note that the rings are at the back of the decking. This is to reduce the strain on what is still a rather insecure offside bank. A gravel path is promised for boaters to reach their boats, but I wonder how long it will be before someone ends up in the cut after tripping on a mooring line.Completion was promised for Christmas but despite much progress it still isn't finished. The next two photos, taken this week show how much has been done and how much is still to do

Looking north, the tree in the distance is also in the previous shot.

Looking south

About three boat-lengths' worth of decking is still to be laid and then there is just the matter of a few hundred metres of gravel path! I hope they get it done before the mooring fees go up on 1st Feb!

It is a massive improvement to the moorings, it has been a slow job because of pulling back the pillings and rectifying years of neglect by previous owners and boaters who didnt tie their boats up correctly, bear with us Jim once the gravel has been laid they will be some of the best on line moorings around! The gravel will be laid as soon as the weather allows us to finish the boards.